Key punch



L. M. KEEFE March 12, 1935.

4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR LI/WWLN M KEEFE ATTORNEY L. M. KEEFE KEY PUNCH 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 29, 1932 INVENTOR LINCOLN MKEEE v BY ATTORNEY March 12, 1935.

L. M. KEEFE March 12, 1935.

KEY BUNCH Filed Jan. 29, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR fl/VMLN M KEEFE ATTORN EY L. M. KEEFE March 12, 1935.

KEY PUNCH Filed Jan 29, 1932 '4 Sheets-Sheet 4 y INVENTOR lIf/VCflL/V' MZIEEFZ' ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 12, 1935 I KEY PUNCH Lincoln M. Keefe, SpringfiekL'Mass.

Application January 29,

14 Claims.

This invention relates to, improvements in key punches and has for an object the provision of a punch in which the maximum surface of the card is visible to the operator and in which the keys represent vertical columns on the cards, and the record data' associated with each specific vertical column, rather than horizontal rows or positions, as is customary in present types of key punches.

For example, in the present key punches, the keys represent the horizontal rows on the. card and the card and its carriage is moved horizontally to anydesired column and to punch an 8 in column 48 the carriage is moved horizontally until column 48 is in line with the die and th 15 8 key is punched.

Where data are to be recorded on a seriesof cards in the same row, as for example, in ,direct by mail advertising or customer contro in department stores, where the previous .months activity is recorded on the customers cards and the horizontal rows thereon represent the months and the vertical columns represent the departments in the store in certain fields on the cards, the act of moving the carriage to a definite vertical column for each entry of data" on the card, as. is now done, is laborious and takes up a great deal of time as becomes'apparent from the following;

Suppose the activity in a certain month (repre sented by the 8 row onthe card) is being recorded in the cards, and suppose acustomer bought in the Furniture, Hosiery, Millinery and Childrens Wear Department, represented on the card by vertical columns 44, 34, 51 and 35 respectively during this particular month, the 'carriage would be set so that column'44 is in line with the die and then the 8 key is punched, then the carriage is moved until 34 is in line with the die and the 8? key is again punched, then the carriage is moved to line column 51 and the 8 key is again punched, and finally thecarriage is moved to line column 35 with the die and the 8 key is again punched. It can be readily seen that this method is slow and laborious, and the poor visibility of the card when in position in ie present punches is not conducive to speed when doing worker the kind outlined above.

The use of skip bars and other aids to finding the column are not entirely practical, due to the fact that the information on the source record is usually in chronological or date order, and in respect to the vertical columns of the'cards the information would occur in chance or haphazard order. A

In the improved key punch shown. and de- 1932, Serial No. 589,599

scribed herein the die is positioned above the card affording maximum visibility due to the fact that the punches and the actuating mechanisms are below the card. The keys may represent different departments and may; be individually 5 capped with the names of the different departments so that the operator does not have to associate anyparticular numerals with departments thereby facilitating the work and eliminating A sources of error. i 10 The carriage is manually set for any particular row on the card, for example the horizontal row of eights representing the same month given in the instance above (which it is assumed is the month in which the activity is being recorded); the procedure, for recording the data as compared with present machines above, is to press the four keys marked Furniture, Hosiery, Millinery and.Childrens Wear and the operation is complete as far as that particular card is concerned, and data may be recorded in many cards by this new device in the time previously requiredfor a single card by means of present types of key punches.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a key punch in which the carriage may also be moved horizontally so that where the card is divided into diiferent fields, the machine may be set to punch in any desired field. An example of such a card is shown in Figure l of the drawings in co-pending application Serial No.. 549,449 filed July'18, 1931 in which the departments of the store are represented by columns 28 to 52 for the months of February, March, April, May, June and July, and are representedin columns 54 to 78 for the months of August, September, October, N0 vember, December and January.

A further object of the invention is the provi-- sion of a key punch in which the punches are not only propelled into the dies by the. action of the keys, but are also positively withdrawn therefrom by the same means. i g

' Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the following drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the device;

Figure 2 is afront elevation of the device shown in Figure 1;

Fi ure 3 is an end elevation of the device shown in Figure 1 as viewed from right to left;

Figure 4 is a rear view of the device;

Figurefiis a cross section of the devic the line 55 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a section along the line 66 of Figure 1;

Figure 7 is a section along the line 77 of Figure 1;

Figure 8 is a section along the line 8-8 of Figure 4; and

Figure 9 is an isometric view of a portion of the die to show the method of its construction.

A frame designated generally by the numeral 10 forms a main support for the mechanism of the device and consists of a left end portion 11 and a right end portion 12 joined on the rear by the horizontal cross members 13, 14 and 20.

The cross member 14 has its mid-portion 15 in the form of a yoke and bosses 16 and 17 therein are drilled out to carry a pivot shaft for the key levers which will be presentlydescribed.

The cross member 14 also carries the extended arms 18 and 19 which form supports for the guide rods of the carriage which will also be described presently. 1

The cross member 20 forms a support for the guide or stripper plate 21, the construction of which and the method of securing the same to the member 20 will be presently described. A bar 22 is mounted immediately above and parallel to the cross-member'20 and spaced therefrom by spacing blocks at each end thereof. One of these spacing blocks is shown at 23 and the bar is secured to theframe by'screws24 and dowel pins 25. 'The die 26 issecured to the bar 22 by means of dowel pins 2'? and screws 28. The construction of the die 26 and the guide plate 21 is preferably identical and is clearly illustrated in Figure 9. A bar of steel 30 has a plurality of recta'ngular slots 29 milled therein equally spaced from each other. A second bar 31 of like material is doweled thereto by means of dowels 2'7 and these dowels and the screws 28 not only secure the die block to the bar 22 but also hold the two members comprising the die block together, and after the usual hardening, grinding and lapping process the milled slots 29 become a series of rectangular dies. For convenience combined bars with the series of rectangular dies will be hereinafter referred to as the die 26 or the die block 26.

The guide or stripper plate 21 is secured to the cross member in a like manner by dowels 27 and screws 28 (not shown) with the rectangular holes thereinaccurately in line with the rectangular holes in the die block 26 so that the punches, one of which is indicated by the numeral 32 will, upon actuation thereof, be accurately guided into the rectangular openings 29 in the toeach punch for withdrawing them from the die openings. Due to the limited space avail able for mounting springs in'such arrangements it has been impossible to get in springs strong enough to infallibly return the punches each time they are operated, resulting in the frequent destruction of cards when a spring fails to return a punch to normal position.

This difficulty is overcome in the present invention in the following manner:

Each one of the punches 32 has an extended portion or tongue 33 integral therewith and at a right angle to the center line thereof. These tongues 33are engaged by the key levers in a manner which will be. presently described.

The key levers one of which is indicated by the numeral 36 are carried by a pivot shaft 35 which is supported in the yoke 15 by means of drilled holes in the bosses 16 and 17 and secured therein by screws one of which is shown at 43.

The shaft 35 also carries a'plurality of floating plates 46, one plate being located between each two adjacent key levers 36 (and associated punches 32) thereby facilitating the movement I 34 therein. These notches engage the tongues 33 of the punches 32.and the sides of the U form engage the tongue above and below so that when a key 3'7 is pressed the key end of the lever 36 moves downward and on :theotherend the lower side of the U slot bears againstthelower edge of the tongue 33an'd' pushes the punch up into the die29 (in the die block 30). V

When the key 3'7 is released ,a spring 39, which has one end hooked to 'the lever 36 through the hole 47 and the other end hooked to the L shaped cross piece 38, pulls the key end of thelever 36 up whereupon the upperside of the U slot bearlight spring 39 on each key lever, and if for any", reason a punch becomes stuck into the die itmay be readily removed by pullingthe key upward. 1

A plate40 secured to the end portions 11 and12 by means of screws 41 has. a plurality of slots 42 therein which individually form guides for the key levers 36.

The die block 30, described above, "when mounted on the cross bar 22 has the dies 29 dis.- posed horizontally from left to right so that when a card is placed therein the holes will be punched in horizontal rows in the cards.

A card carriage 49 is provided having up-- turned ends 50 and 51 the inner faces of whichmember up with and act as locators for the end edges of the'cards (the inner faces of. 50 and 51 being a distance apart equal to the horizontal. 2

length of the card) p This card carriage 49 has a block 54 secured to its underside in any suitable manner, and parallel guide rods 55 and 56, passing through holes in the block54 and forming working fits there with, are carried in the extended arms 18 and 19.

of the cross member 14. I I The guide rod 55 is round and is positively se' cured in the holes in the extended arms by thereof turned down round and threaded. The

threaded end fits intoa round hole in the ex tended arm 18 and nuts 58 and 59 on the threaded" portion of the rod 56 are positioned one on each side of the extended arm 18.. The other end of the rod 56 fits into a square hole in the ex tended arm 19.

and is thereby prevented from turning.

The upper surface of the rod 56. has a plurality ofslots 5 7 milledtherein and some of the slots are spaced apart from center line to center line a distance equal to the center to center distance of the 'VerticaI columns on the record cards and other slots in the rod may be spaced some multiple of this distance, for example, it may be desirable to have the space between 57a and 57b equal to 10, 15 or any other desired number of vertical columns on the card.

A lever 60 positioned in a milled slot in the carriage block 54 (see Figure 6) has a hole therein journaled or pivoted on the guide rod 55 and has a blade portion 64 adapted to engage and accurately fit the notches 57 in the square rod 56. A spring 62 located in a slot 65 in the lever 60 and bearing against the surface of the block 54 holds the knife'portion 64 of the lever 60 into engagement with any of the slots 57 in the rod 56, thereby setting the same so that holes may be punched in the cards in any desired group of columns or fields on the cards. To move the carriage the operator places a thumb against the upper face of the carriage 49 and with forefinger pulls the end of the lever 60 upward against the tension of the spring 62, disengaging the blade 64 from a slot 57 in the square rod 56, whereupon the carriage is free to slide in either direction on the rods 55 and 56 and when the lever 60 is released the blade 64 may then engage another slot 57 due to the action of the spring 62, and if theblade does not fall directly into a slot 57, a slight movement farther of the carriage brings this about.

In building the device and adjusting the same after assembly, with the lever 60 engaging a slot 57 and with a card in the carriage 49 the dies" 29 in the die block 30 may be lined up with the vertical columns of the cards by moving the guide rod 56 longitudinally in the supports, 18 and 19. This may be accomplished by means of the nuts 58 and 59 bearing against the sides of the support.

Suppose a lining up gage (not shown) indicated that the carriage 49 should be moved a few straddle a thin metallic strip 67 as shown in Figure 7 and are secured thereto in any suitable manner such as by rivets 68. These bars are of equal length and the ends 70 thereof formstops against which the bottoms of the cards rest when the'device is being operated.

The left end 11 of the frame 10 has a slot 71 milled therein and the right end 12 has a slot'72 milled therein. These slots are parallel with each other and square bars 73 and 74 respectively are positioned therein and form working fits therewith.

These bars are secured to the strip 67 in any suitable manner, such as by rivets 75, so that the strip 67 carrying the stops 66 may be moved up or down in the device along the inclined surface 'of the end members 11 and 12 with the bars 73 screws 77 and 78.

These screws are provided for holding the members 79 in slidable relation to the strip 67.

The members 79 have the ends thereof bent as shown at 80 so that they may be engaged by the fingers of the operator. The other ends of the members 79 are made in the form of tongues 81 which are adapted to engage notches 01 slots 82 in the end members 11 and 12 of the frame 10.

These notches or slots 82 are spaced apart from center to center distances equal to the center to center distances of the horizontal rows on the cards so that by moving the strip 69 with its associated stop bars 66 up or down the tongues 81 may be set into any desired set of notches, and result in the cards stopping when placed in-the device in such position that holes will'be punched in the horizontal row corresponding to the notches which are engaged by the tongues 81.

vTo facilitate the setting of the stops 66 carried by the strip 67 springs 83 are provided. Each spring has one end thereof embracing and bearing against the head of the screw 78 and the other end extending into a hole 83 in the upturned portion 69 of the strip 67.

When setting for another horizontal row on the card the thumbs are placed against the upturned ends 69 and the turned down portions 80 of the members 79 are pulled endwise against the pressure of the springs 83 by means of the forefingers, the strip 67 is then moved to the desired position and as soon as the fingers release the members 80 and the action of the springs 83 forces the tongues 81 into the slots, i

Clearance slots 84 are provided in the cross member 20 and the bar 22 through which the stops 66 pass for extreme upper positions of the strip 67, and where stops are in linewith the die 26 and the stripper plate 21, suitable clearance slots 85 are provided therein.

-A cross support 86 of L cross section has end lugs 87 which are secured to the frame 10 by means of screws 88.

A plurality of pairs of guide strips 89, 90 are secured to the cross-support 86 by means of rivets 9-1, and aplurality of longer pairs of guide strips 92, 93 are secured to the cross support 86 by means of rivets 94. Themetallic strip 67 carrying the card stops 66 passes between the upper strips 89, 92 and the lower strips 90, 93 and as adjacent strips 89, 90 or 92, 93 are closer together than the thickness of the card stops 66, they guide the cards and insure their contact with the ends 70 of the stops 66.

The outer ends of the upper strips 92 are curved upward and the outer ends of the lower strips 93 are curved downwardly so that a card may be easily inserted between an upper strip 92 and a lower strip 93. The strips 89, 90 terminate just between the die plate 26 and the stripper plate 21 as shown in Figure 5, so that there is no possibility of the card failing to pass between these strips.

To facilitate in guiding the cards between the die plate 26 and the stripper plate 21, a curved metallic lip 95 is provided. This lip has suitable supporting brackets 96 and 97 which are secured to the bar 22 by means of screws 98. The lower edge of the lip 95 members up with the lower edge of the die as shown and facilitates the insertion of cards into the device. The cut out portions 52, 53 in the carriage 49 are provided so that the cards may be easily grasped by hand when against the stops 66 with the strip 67 in the lowest positions thereof.

Suitable front feet 99 and rear feet 100 are index point positions or perforations representmade integral with the. frame 10 and thesefeet are provided with suitable resilient pads 101.

The keys 37' may be capped or labeled with the names of the departments or code numbers or letters corresponding thereto, where used indepartment store customer control, such. as in the example given above, or they may be given suitable indices for any desired application or class of work.

The above described device may be quickly set up for any desired horizontal row on the card by moving the strip 67, carrying the stops 66 to a notch 82 corresponding to the column wanted, and to the proper field of the card by engaging the lever 60 and'moving the carriage to the right or left whichever may be the case. The cards may then be inserted into the device and the data punched therein very rapidly, in fact this class of work may be done'ten to fifteen times 1' as fast with the improved punch herein described than with existing types of punches. The record cards have index point positions or perforations representing different denominations or classes of information disposed along one dimension and perforations along another dimension represent diiferent data intherespective classes or'denominations. It is understood that the terms horizontal. row and row used in the specification and the appended claims'is taken'to mean ing diiferent denominations or classes of information and that these index point positions or perforations are disposed horizontally across the records in rows parallel to the bottom of the rec- It is further understood that the index point positions in these horizontal rows are so positioned represent months in which purchases are made.

The record carriage may be manually set and locked for any given month and holes punched in the records representing the different departments in which purchases were made during the month set up. The action of the keys or punches does not feed or move the carriage in any direc-v tion.

The carriage may also be moved manually to embrace a second set of denominations in some other field on the record.

The embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings and described in this specification is by no means limitative, as many changes may be made in the structure or the arrangement-of related parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is: r

1. In a key punch for perforating record cards, a carriage adapted to receive one of said cards at a time, a plurality of dies disposed parallel to one axis of the card, a plurality of punches in line with said dies, two-way driving means for said punches includinglevers having U-shaped end notches formed therein, engaging tongues carried by said punches and supported below said dies including a key lever for each punch, keys on said levers corresponding to a group of denominational positions on the card, and means for .moving said carriage relative to saigdies to embrace-a second group of denominational-positions. on the card.

2. In a key punch for perforating record cards notch formed therein and engaging one of said tongues, stops adapted to limit the depth of cards.

in said carriage whereby holes may be punched. therein in a predetermined horizontal row,pand means for changing the position of said stops relative to said dies, thereby positioning a different row in the record adjacent to the dies.

3. In a key punch for perforating record cards punches cooperating with said diesadapted' to i punch holes in one row in said cards-,'*dr ivingsaid punches having tongues formed integral therewith, each of said levers having a U-shaped end notch formed therein and engaging one of said tongues, keys on said levers corresponding; to said classes of-information on the card, settable stops adaptedto limit thedepth of cards in said carriage whereby a setup may be made for punching holes in said cards in any predetermined row, and means for moving said carriage relative to said dies to embrace other groups of classes 'of information on the card, said stops being movable angularly relative to said'carriage I means for said punches supported belowsaid dies including a key lever for each punch, each of 4. In a device of the character described, aste tionary record holder, a record in said holder, I

dies having key operated punches cooperating therewith for recording perforationson a por-.

tion of a single row in the record, each ofsaid:

keys representing a specific class of information, and manual means independent of said keys for positioning and locking said holder so that a. difierent portion of the record is in line with the dies.

5. Adevice as claimed in claim 4 in which bot-- tom guides movable independently of saidrecord holder are provided and which may be manually setto position the record so that all perforations made therein have asimilar classificaclassification significance and in which a specific record significance may be given each of said keys whereby facts represented by'perforae tions may be rapidly recorded without moving the record between successive perforations.

7. In a device of the character described, a.

multiple die, a record holder adapted to supDOrt a record beneath said die, a plurality of punches cooperating with said dies, each of said punches having a tongued portion integral therewith and extending therefrom at an angle to the center axis thereof, key levers each engaging the tongued portion of a punch at two points whereby each punch may be pushed into its cooperatingdie and withdrawn therefrom, a pivot shaft for said key levers supported below said die, floating plates carried on said shaft for isolating the punches from each other at the points of engagement with said key levers, and springs connected to said key levers in a leverage relation greater than the leverage between said pivot shaft and the punches thereby multiplying in effect the pull of the springs imparted to the punches while the levers are returning to a normal position.

8. In a key punch for perforating record cards a frame, a carriage adjustable thereon in one plane, a plurality of dies representing classes of information disposed parallel to the line of adjustment of said carriage, a plurality of punches cooperating with said dies, a plurality of levers engaging said punches and adapted to propel the same into and out of said dies, a key on each of said levers and pivots for said levers located between said keys and said punches, stops carried on said frame adapted to definethe position of said cardsjin said carriage whereby a plurality of holesrepresenting related data may be punched in said cards at one setting thereof, and means for changing the setting of said stops relative to said dies in accordance with other related data.

9. In a key punch of thecharacter described, a frame carrying settable stops for positioning a record card therein in a plurality of positions along one dimension thereof and settable guides for positioning the card in a plurality of fields perpendicular to said dimension, and a plurality of key-operated punches cooperating with a multiple die disposed parallel to the movement of said guides, said stops being movable in one direction along said frame and said guides being movable at right anglesto the movement of said stops along said frame, each being independently movable.

10. In a machine for punching cards in which perforations along one dimension represent different classes of information and perforations along another dimension represent different data in the respective classes, a single row of key operated punches disposed parallel to the perforations along said first dimension, said card being adapted to be moved in steps and fixed relative to said punches in a line perpendicular thereto, whereby a plurality of punchings may be made at a single setting.

11. In a machine for punching cards in which perforations along one dimension represent different classes of information and perforations along another dimension represent different data in the respective classes, a single row of key operated punches disposed parallel to the perforations along said first dimension, a frame supporting said punches, a card holder carried by said frame, and settable stops on said frame movable independently of said holder in steps relative to said punches in a line perpendicular thereto for limiting the position of said card in said holder. I

12. The method of perforating record cards having perforations along one dimension representing classes of information and perforations along another dimension representing different data in the respective classes, which consists in providing means for making perforations along said first dimension representing related data, and moving the card relative to said means along said second dimension to perforate a different group of related data under the respective classes of information.

13. A device as claimed in claim '7, in which stops are provided for limiting the depth of records in said holder and in which strips are provided for contacting both faces of the record and guiding the lower edge of the record directly to said stops when a record is inserted into said holder.

14. A device according to claim 11, in which strips are provided on said frame for. contacting both faces of the record and guiding the lower edge of the same directly to said stops, said guide holder being movable along said frame in one direction, said stops being movable along said frame in another direction and said strips being fixed relative to both said holders and said stops.

LINCOLN M. KEEFE. 

